 Butter my bread, it is time for my top three trail running shoes of 2019. Now everyone, you know we have had a pretty solid year of trail running on this YouTube channel. Lots of vertical gain, you better believe it. Lots of mountain running here in Colorado. Lots of mud as well. In the springtime here in Colorado, we do get some muddy conditions. So I was able to put these shoes through some muddy conditions. And yes, once the snow starts to melt up in the mountains, there's a lot of creek crossings happening. So a lot of diverse, and I want to mention that right now. When you're thinking about running shoes to purchase, you have to think about the trails that are around where you live. Here in Colorado, we have a lot of mountains, and so my terrain might be different from where you live. So when I'm giving you my top three trail running shoes of 2019, just keep that in mind that the shoes might not be the perfect match for your trails. So there's just diverse trails out there, diverse types of soil that you're going to be running on. That makes a difference. And of course, vertical gain. That also makes a difference. But for here in Colorado, these are my top three trail running shoes. I'm going to share in a minute, not quite yet, that I have found to work very well in the conditions that I train in here. Now, I cannot, I wish, but I cannot run in every single trail shoe out there on the marketplace. Hopefully in 2020, so at the end of the vlog, I'm going to list three or four shoes that are on my radar to test for all of you in 2020. I simply ran out of time, ran out of vertical gain to seek out in 2019 to put all the trail running shoes that are on my radar through the paces for you. But it's coming. Just wait for it. So I'll give you those four shoes that I'm interested in at the end. But here are five shoes that did not make the list, okay? There's a lot of shoes out there, a lot of great options. But these five that I tested for all of you did not make the list. The Salming Trail 5. The Innovate Mud Claw G260. The Nike Wild Horse 5. What else? The Hoka Mafate. Oh, that one just did not work for me. And last but not least, the Innovate Arctic Claw 300. So those are just a few that simply didn't make the top three. Great shoes, just not the best shoes, okay? And so I'm pretty particular about what makes the list. So without further ado, here we go. Trail shoe number three on the list, ready to rock and roll. The Hoka EVO Speed Goat. There you go. It makes the list for my top three trail running shoes of 2019. Oh my goodness. Okay, a few specs real quick in case you're interested in picking this shoe up. It is available down below in the description. And here's some specs for you. It's a four millimeter drop, okay? So it's got a 32 millimeter stack height in the heel, 28 in the four foot. I would put it basically in the maximalist category for trail running shoes, meaning there's quite a bit of midsole cushion there for the Hoka EVO Speed Goat. And yes, I was able to put it through. Oh, well, okay, here's what's crazy. It's now snowing and there's ice in Denver. I've been putting this shoe through the paces over the last month through a lot of miles getting ready for the Houston Marathon because it's gripping really well in snowy conditions. So it did very well though as well up in the trails here in Colorado. Now how will I use the Hoka EVO Speed Goat in 2020? If I was racing, now I'm not going to. But if I was racing a 50K, but especially a 50 miler or 100 miler, this would be my shoe. It's lightweight. It has good protection through that midsole cushion. It's got a pretty durable upper so far. I'm not seeing too much wear and tear after about 130 miles in it. And the outsole is holding up pretty well. Not perfect, but holding up pretty well through that outsole. So I will not be racing past the marathon on the trails in 2020. I'm resisting longer races in 2020, focusing on shorter stuff. But again, if I was going to especially, especially 50 and 100 milers, you got to take a look at the Hoka EVO Speed Goat. Now, is it worth $160? It is. I'm going to say $160 is actually pretty spot on for the price point. Especially you can use this for training and for racing. So it accomplishes two goals with the Hoka EVO Speed Goat. So this is trail shoe number three, top three right there. I can't believe it. I honestly was, I'm a little surprised that a Hoka made it into my top three in 2020. Sorry, in 2019, I just wasn't that excited about Hoka going into 2019. But sure enough, they pulled it off with the Hoka EVO Speed Goat. Moving on to trail shoe number two. Here we go. Oh man, you better believe it. The Big Bad Wolves. There we go. The Solomon Speed Cross Five. Look at that thing. Oh, I love this shoe so, so much. Oh, it's just, first of all, I like the bright red. It's a little intense, but that's why they are nicknamed the Big Bad Wolves. Okay, real quick, 30 millimeter stack height in the heel, 20 in the four foot. So a 10 millimeter drop, pretty high. Okay, that's pretty high. Be careful if you're not, if you don't like high drop, this shoe is probably not for you. Now as far as weight goes with the Solomon Speed Cross Five, it is on the heavier end. All right, keep that in mind. So for men's size nine, we're looking at over 11 ounces. And there it is in grams on your screen. So it is on the heavier side, but it is so well built. I think the weight, you're not going to really think about it because it's just, it's built like a tank and it's going to last you a long, long time. I think I will get at least another season of trail running in this shoe. Like that's amazing. How often can you carry over a shoe from one year to the next because the build quality is so high that you don't wear it out. And I took it on some pretty serious mud, up vertical, all sorts of crazy conditions here in Colorado. Now here's what's a little sad is I haven't heard any confirmation that the Speed Cross Six is on the horizon from Solomon, which means if your Solomon Speed Cross Five is, if you already own a pair and they're starting to wear out a little bit, you might have to get another pair of Speed Cross Fives because there's, I just haven't seen any news about the Speed Cross Six coming out in 2020, but that's okay because this is a great, great shoe. And yes, it does make my top three list. And how will I use it in 2020 in case I need to ante up again and get a new pair? Mountain running. These shoes now, I will say, in the summertime, my feet were getting a little warm inside the Speed Cross Five. It's so well built. The build quality is there that I just, my feet were getting, so I didn't wear these too much in the summertime. And this, this toe box, it's just so well built. Like there is no, there's, I put over 200 miles in this shoe. There is no wear and tear. I don't need to get a new pair yet. I probably need to go another two to 300 miles before I felt like the shoe was really starting to break down. So I will use the shoe in the springtime for some mountain running, okay? Especially when it's muddy and wet out there. So this shoe is perfect for muddy, wet trails with pretty good vertical gain, okay? This isn't a shoe for flat trails or even undulating hill trails. This shoe is designed to go up the mountain and make sure you have great grip along the way. I love it. I love it. Solomon Speedcross 5 now. Is it worth $130? Absolutely. I would pay, I would go upwards of 140, 145 easily. So I think it's worth $130. And I've seen it even cheaper on a couple websites on, I think I've seen it for like 115 or 120. So anyway, I love it. Solomon Speedcross 5 is trail running shoe number two that makes my list for the best trail running shoes of 2019. Last but not least, trail running shoe number one from 2019. Now I'm building in value into this proposition, okay? So how much does it cost? Is it worth it? 100%. And innovation, okay? So here we go. You better believe it. The Soccany Mad River TR is my trail running shoe of 2019. I just got to say it right now. $110. $110. It is absolutely worth it. Now, keep in mind the stack height is not quite as much cushion as the EVO Speed Goat. 23 in the heel, 19 in the four foot. But they really put some good thought into making sure this shoe could work for a lot of different people. Remember the eyelet chain, okay? So that's a four millimeter drop. So here's the eyelet chain. You can lace up this shoe in a lot of different configurations. In addition, if you live in an area that has a lot of rain, a lot of mud, and you don't like water to build up inside the shoe, you can literally drill holes through the bottom just to help with, because here is the insole. So see those holes there? They're designed to help water flow through the shoe right out through the bottom, right out through the bottom through the holes that you drill in the bottom. It's insane. The outsole pattern, I think they put a lot of thought into the outsole pattern. I won't go into all the details right now. Bottom line, innovation and price point of the Soccany Mad River TR just shocked me this year. It just shocked me. I was not expecting this shoe to get my attention that much in 2019, and I took it up some pretty serious mountain runs here in Colorado, and it did fine up in the steep vertical of the Rocky Mountains. Now, how will I use the Soccany Mad River TR? I think the shoe will be perfect for undulating hills, even flat trails, and like I said, it did pretty well in the steep vertical of the Rocky Mountains. So it's a very unlike the Speed Cross Five. I think the Speed Cross Five is really dialed into the steep ascents and descents, whereas the Mad River, you can use it in a lot of different ways, which I think that is more applicable to a lot of people out there, like not everyone has 14,000 foot mountains in their state or in their country, which is fine. That's why, and back to the price point, $110, it's just gonna be, you just can't beat that when it comes to trail running shoes. So there you have it, and all three of these shoes have full reviews on the channel, upper right hand corner, click on those cards that are popping out over the next 10 to 15 seconds. Now, here are some shoes that I'm interested in trying out in 2020, okay? The Soccany Peregrine ISO, the Solomon S-Lab Ultra II. Unfortunately, I was unable to try that this year, and maybe they will update it for 2020, we shall see. The Skechers Go Run Speed Trail, yup, Skechers is getting into the trail running scene, you better believe it, and last but not least, the Adidas Tarex Speed LD, Adidas Tarex Speed LD, alright, and Adidas is really, watch out, Adidas is making major inroads with elite trail runners, ultra runners, and I bet they're gonna start to come out with more and more trail running shoes in 2020. They just see the market continues to grow with respect to trail running, as I'm sure you've seen in your area, wherever you're running and training, trail running continues to gain more and more momentum. Question of the day, major three, top three trail running shoes of 2019. If you only have one, that's good too, and I bet you're gonna learn something if you go down into the comments and just start chiming into those conversations, asking questions of people that really seem dialed into their trail running shoes based on the list that they give, and the reasons why those top three, those shoes make the top three for 2019. I bet you will learn a lot down in the comments. Alright, thanks for being here. One more time, the Hoka Evo Speed Goat, the Solomon Speed Cross Five, and the Soccany Mad River TR, are my top three trail running shoes of 2019. I can't wait to see what will arrive on the scene in 2020. Alright, there you have it. We're gonna toss it back to my full review of the Solomon Speed Cross Five, because it was so long ago, and then we're gonna toss it back to the Soccany Mad River TR full review on the left. Alright, you guys are the best. See you tomorrow.